[Math] Derivatives and Average Velocity

calculus

So I am struggling to understand the methodology (which I am sure is just as important as getting the answer). I saw a similar question but did not find the responses to be helpful. I need more clarity.

If a ball is thrown straight up into the air with an initial velocity of 85ft/s the height in feet after t second is given by y=85t-16t^2.

I am trying to find the average velocity (spoiler I know it is 69). But I can't understand the process of getting there using the from 1 to .1; 1 to .01 and 1 to .001 and then seeing where the numbers lead. I don't know the formula needed to fill in the other questions. The teacher of my class only shows how to do this with a graphing calculator and I don't have one to work with right now and would prefer to understand how to do one without it.

Best Answer

Since you asked for a process, I'll give you two since I'm putting off doing my homework.

Convoluted Solution: So let's set up the problem. We know that the average value of any function can be given by $$\int_a^b \frac{y(b)-y(a)}{b-a} dt$$

We put our starting time at $0$, since that is when we begin looking at when the ball is thrown.

We know that we'll stop caring about the ball when it hits the ground, which means it's position is $0$, since we have the position function, we simply have to to set it to $0$ in order to find when it hits the ground. In other words, we have to solve $$85t -16t^2 = 0$$

From there, we have to find the velocity function, which is the derivative of the position function. In other words, $$\frac{dy}{dt} = \frac{d}{dt}[85t - 16t^2]$$

I'll let you solve these on your own, but here's the set up integral without the solution $$\int_0^b\frac{\frac{dy}{dt}(b)-\frac{dy}{dt}(0)}{b-0}dt$$

Easy Solution: Take a look at this picture of the position

From here it should be easy to figure out the average velocity of the ball.